Posted in accidents, tagged aban pearl, accidents, Australia, Bayou St. Denis, Chile, China, Jack Ryan, macondo, Mariner fire, Montara, offshore oil, varanus, venezuela on October 14, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Posted in accidents, tagged aban pearl, accidents, PDVSA, semisumbersible, Trinidad and Tobago, venezuela on September 29, 2010| 1 Comment »
Aban Pearl listing off Trinidad in August 2009
For those who haven’t been following this saga, the Aban Pearl, a semi-submersible drilling rig, sank off of Venezuela on 13 May 2010. The seas were calm and the skies were clear, so the cause of the accident is a mystery. We have learned from a reliable and knowledgeable source that PDVSA, the national oil company of Venezuela, has conducted an official investigation to determine the cause(s) of this accident. We urge them to release their report so that all may benefit from their findings.
While searching the web for other information on the Aban Pearl, I was surprised to find that the rig was reported to be listing offshore Trinidad & Tobago in August 2009, and that assistance was requested from the T&T Coast Guard. This incident occurred nine months before the rig sank offshore Venezuela.
According to Public Relations Officer at the T&T Coast Guard Lt Kirk Jean Baptiste, the T&T Coast Guard received a distress call from the rig around 2.45 pm. “The Coast Guard received a call that one of the flotation devices on the rig was taking in water which caused the rig to lean on one side,” he said. Sources said it belonged to an Indian company, but was registered in Singapore. They said it was not working, but just passing through T&T waters. Rigs are normally moved with the help of other boats.
Posted in accidents, tagged aban pearl, accidents, sinking, venezuela on September 24, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Aban Pearl
The Aban Pearl sank off the coast of Venezuela in May. Shortly after the accident, Venezuela announced that a high-level commission would investigate. However, interested parties, inquiring through official diplomatic channels, have been unable to even confirm that the sinking is being investigated.
Until operators, contractors, and governments agree to conduct accident investigations and release reports in a timely manner, offshore safety objectives cannot be achieved.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged aban pearl, accidents, Bayou St. Denis, BOE, crane, Jack Ryan, safety, transocean, venezuela on August 13, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Aban Pearl
According to our 15 May post, Venezuela established a special commission to investigate the sinking of the Aban Pearl, a semi-submersible rig that sank on 13 May 2010. In the subsequent 3 months, we have not seen any updates on that commission or the status of the investigation.
BOE will also be tracking any reports on the recent crane failure and apparent fatality on the Jack Ryan, and the Bayou St. Denis blowout. Let us know if there are other major offshore accidents that we should be tracking. With regard to the Jack Ryan, a description of the tragic crane accident is posted in a thread on the Oil Rig Photos site (see the 3 August post).
Posted in accidents, tagged aban pearl, Deepwater Horizon, insurance on June 7, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Aban Pearl
Global insurance broker Willis Group Holdings has revealed that the Deepwater Horizon and Aban Pearl drilling rig losses have given upstream energy insurers a record breaking monthly financial hit of $795m.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged aban pearl, accidents, offshore, safety, venezuela on May 16, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Jan Therkildsen (BOE’s Chief Rocky Mountains Correspondent) found this Aban Pearl update.
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged aban pearl, accidents, venezuela on May 15, 2010| 1 Comment »
Odd Finnestad dug up this information on the Aban Pearl sinking.
Venezuela appointed a high level commission to investigate the causes of the sinking of Aban Pearl rig, which exploited gas offshore, according to executives of that program on Friday.
Posted in accidents, tagged aban pearl, accidents, offshore, venezuela on May 14, 2010| Leave a Comment »
There is nothing about the sinking on the Aban Offshore website, and very little new information elsewhere. The way the incident was announced – a tweet from Hugo Chavez – seems to be the big story to date.
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 